FilmWeViews.com

Be Kind Rewind

GroovyMovieGuy — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:09:48 +0000

Who loves Jack Black? Everyone. Who loves “Nacho Libre” and “School of Rock?” Everyone. Who loves “Be Kind Rewind?” Some. Maybe.
How could you go wrong with a movie starring Jack Black as Jerry Gerber, a neighborhood slacker who accidentally erases all the VHS tapes at Elroy Fletcher’s (Danny Glover) movie rental store while it’s under the watch of his friend Mike (Mos Def). Fletcher’s friend, Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow). tries to rent a movie and the pair replace it with their own home-made adaptation. Their version is so bad it’s good and the nascent filmmakers find themselves remaking all the store’s inventory by popular demand.
With an intriguing story line and some serious actors (yeah, even Mos Def in this case) one would expect a blow up success. Instead “Be Kind Rewind” just launches then quickly lands with a thud. (102 min.)

Rated PG-13, 2008

Directed by:
Michel Gondry

Starring:
Jack Black
Mos Def
Danny Glover
Mia Farrow
Melonie Diaz
Irv Gooch
Chandler Parker
Arjay Smith
Quinton Aaron
Gio Perez
Basia Rosas
Tomaz Soltys
Marcus Carl Franklin
Blake Hightower
Amir Ali Said

Writer:
Michel Gondry

Jack Black’s mime diet

GroovyMovieGuy — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:01:20 +0000

Jack Black discusses his “mime diet” on “Friday Night with Jonathan Ross” - BBC.

The Raven

movieMoll — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:59:28 +0000

Bela Lugosi’s over-the-top performance as mad scientist Dr. Richard Vollin is not to be missed. Lugosi hams it up as a brilliant, egotistical surgeon that has a fanatical obsession with Edgar Allan Poe, keeping a stuffed raven on his desk and devices of torture described in Poe’s tales in his dungeon! Although Boris Karloff has top billing, this is Lugosi’s film. It’s too bad Karloff doesn’t have more screen time, because his performance as disturbed criminal and victim of Vollin, Edmond Bateman, is top notch. This movie includes what is probably the only interpretive dance ever performed to Poe’s eerie poem “The Raven.” (61 min.)

Unrated - 1935

Director:
Lew Landers

Starring:
Boris Karloff
Bela Lugosi
Lester Matthews
Irene Ware
Samuel S. Hinds
Spencer Charters
Ian Wolfe

Writers:
Edgar Allan Poe (poem)
David Boehm (screenplay)

The Raven

GroovyMovieGuy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:11:34 +0000

What girl could help herself from being drawn to the charms of Bela Lugosi in his late 50s? Well, most likely any girl, but that didn’t stop anyone from making this movie.
Edgar Allan Poe obsessed and “mature” Dr. Richard Vollin (Lugosi) saves the life of Jean Thatcher (Irene Ware) and turns his attention to the young lady. In gratitude she performs an interpretive dance to Poe’s “The Raven” which seals the deal for her freaky benefactor. Edmond Bateman (KARLOFF — Boris Karloff to us little people, he was going by one name at the time) gets unwillingly pulled into a twisted plot of revenge when young Thatcher’s father, Judge Thatcher (Samuel S. Hinds) objects to the doctor’s sick intentions.
While not necessarily a good film, it’s not a bad movie considering the vintage. Plus, you get Lugosi and Karloff together and some mad scientist organ playing as well. (61 min.)

Unrated - 1935

Director:
Lew Landers

Starring:
Boris Karloff
Bela Lugosi
Lester Matthews
Irene Ware
Samuel S. Hinds
Spencer Charters
Ian Wolfe

Writers:
Edgar Allan Poe (poem)
David Boehm (screenplay)

Hatbox Mystery

movieMoll — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:21:11 +0000

This is a B-movie in every sense — brief, low-budget and bad, obviously made to show in theaters as part of a double feature. Secretary Susan Hart (Pamela Blake) takes on a job from a client while her cash-strapped private eye boss and boyfriend Russ Ashton (Tom Neal) is out of town on a case. It seems simple, the client wants her to get photographic evidence of his wife’s affair and gives her a camera hidden in a hat box. Only, it turns out the box is rigged with a gun and Russ returns to town to find his gal in jail on a murder rap. Neal and his sidekick Harvard, played by Allen Jenkins, are pleasant, but the script doesn’t give them much to work with. Neal, by the way, is best known as the ill-fated lead in the cult film noir “Detour” (44 min.)

Unrated - 1947

Director:
Lambert Hillyer

Starring:
Tom Neal
Pamela Blake
Allen Jenkins
Virginia Sale
Leonard Penn
Olga Andre
Edward Keane
Tom Kennedy

Writer:
Carl K. Hittleman (screenplay and story)
Maury Nunes (story)
Don Martin (writer)

Blood Simple

movieMoll — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:36:25 +0000

Fans of Coen Brothers’ movies should check out this early gem. “Blood Simple” was the first commercial film by the brothers and the big-screen debut of Frances McDormand. Club owner and jealous husband Marty (Dan Hedaya) hires a scumball private detective to kill his wife Abby (McDormand) and her lover Ray (John Getz). The hired gun comes up with a scheme of his own and everything goes terribly wrong. Some of the elements of “Blood Simple” foreshadow the later and greater Coens’ movie “Fargo.” (99 min.)

Rated R - 1985

Director:
Joel Coen

Starring:
John Getz
Frances McDormand
Dan Hedaya
M. Emmet Walsh
Samm-Art Williams

Writers:
Joel Coen
Ethan Coen

Blood Simple

GroovyMovieGuy — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:43:31 +0000

It’s not so simple when tough Texan, Ray (John Getz), starts an affair with Abby (Frances McDormand), the wife of a rowdy honky tonk owner, Marty (Dan Hedaya) — especially when she’s his boss’s wife. Bring in a sleazy private eye, Loren Visser (M. Emmet Walsh), and things really turn south.
“Blood Simple” was the big screen introduction of McDormand. It was also the introduction of what a great combination McDormand and the Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan) would be for a number of films such as “Raising Arizona,” “Fargo” and “Burn After Reading.”
While not quite at the level of the trio’s later collaborations, “Blood Simple” is a must-see for fans of the Coen brothers’ dark outlook and for people who enjoy good storytelling supported by world-class acting. (99 min.)

Rated R - 1985

Director:
Joel Coen

Starring:
John Getz
Frances McDormand
Dan Hedaya
M. Emmet Walsh
Samm-Art Williams

Writers:
Joel Coen
Ethan Coen

Hollywood Mystery

GroovyMovieGuy — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:42:16 +0000

The biggest mystery is “what were they thinking?” “Hollywood Mystery” doesn’t have a mystery or a murder. What it has is a movie promoter hyping his film by getting press that a real gangster is involved. I hope this doesn’t spoil the film, but that doesn’t go well.
If you’re looking for some background noise then this film is perfect. If you’re looking for a Hollywood mystery, try something else. (53 min.)

Unrated - 1934

Director:
B. Reeves Eason

Starring:
Frank Albertson
June Clyde
José Crespo
Tenen Holtz
John Davidson
Stanley Price

Writers:
William Bloecher (story)
John T. Neville (writer)

Hollywood Mystery

movieMoll — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:07:59 +0000

This movie doesn’t include a murder — or a mystery, for that matter. A publicity man for a movie studio (Frank Albertson) hatches a scheme to convince the press that the star of the latest gangster film (José Crespo) is a real gangster. Complications arise when real gangsters come after him. The good news is this movie is only 53-minutes long, originally intended to run as a second feature at theaters. The bad news is “Hollywood Mystery” isn’t so much a “B” movie as a “D-minus.” (53 min.)

Unrated - 1934

Director:
B. Reeves Eason

Starring:
Frank Albertson
June Clyde
José Crespo
Tenen Holtz
John Davidson
Stanley Price

Writers:
William Bloecher (story)
John T. Neville (writer)

Raising Arizona

GroovyMovieGuy — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:53:02 +0000

Back in their salad days, The Coen brothers made a movie called “Raising Arizona” that became an instant classic. It also became the film to which I would compare every movie the brothers made from then on — and there were some excellent movies to follow — such as “Fargo,” “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou” and even “Burn After Reading.”
This is possibly Nicholas Cage’s best movie as he takes on the role of a golden-hearted petty criminal who wants to do right. Holly Hunter portrays his ex-cop wife who is willing to cross the line of right and wrong to complete the family. John Goodman is the career criminal who is willing to put his career before everything else.
Oddly enough, with a plot that includes kidnappers you care for, “the lone biker of the apocalypse” and a very noisy prison break, the willing suspension of disbelief comes naturally, unlike just about every movie Cage has starred in during the last few years. Watch it! (94 min.)

Rated PG-13 - 1987

Director:
Joel Coen

Starring:
Nicholas Cage
Holly Hunter
Trey Wilson
John Goodman
William Forsythe
Frances McDormand
Sam McMurray
Randall ‘Tex’ Cobb
T.J. Kuhn Jr.

Writers:
Ethan Coen
Joel Coen